Telegram has been making a flurry of moves in crypto lately. And it might just be the very beginning of a bold new vision for the future.

‍What’s happening:‍

• Popular encrypted messaging app Telegram has announced they have launched paid content within their app for the very first time
  

The big idea:‍

• Telegram users can now sell and purchase content directly within the Telegram app, using Telegram’s recently launched digital currency known as Stars
  
• Once a user receives Stars as payment, they can then exchange Stars for TON and convert their TON holdings directly into fiat
  
• The ability to monetize content is part of Telegram’s larger vision of expanding the capabilities of their app and leveraging digital assets to enable seamless payments for users regardless of their geographic location
  

By the numbers:‍

• Telegram currently has approximately 900M users
  

Going deeper:‍

• Telegram’s crypto project TON has rocketed to popularity, becoming one of the largest tokens in all of crypto by market capitalization and even seeing DeFi Technologies (CBOE: DEFI) launch an Exchange Traded Product on the Nordic Growth Market to allow traditional markets to get exposure to the digital asset

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